WWII ON THE HOMEFRONT – THE FOUR FREEDOMS

An analysis of the images Rockwell painted to describe Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms”, and a brief history of the impact these paintings had on America.

Tell the class about the speech Roosevelt made during WWII in which he described four freedoms — freedom of speech, freedom from want, freedom to worship, and freedom from fear. His point was that these freedoms should […]

WWII on the Homefront – The Four Freedoms (K-12)Samie Mitchell2017-03-01T11:37:50-04:00

GOING AND COMING (1947)

Quick Pic Activities

Elementary/Early Childhood

1. Getting in Touch With Our Senses
Pretend you are standing somewhere in the painting—situated in the car or as a bystander watching it go by. Describe in detail what you can see, hear, smell, touch or taste from the location you chose

High School/Middle School

1. Make Rockwell’s Characters Talk
If two of the characters in Norman Rockwell’s Going and Coming painting […]

PICTURES AND WORDS (GRADES K-5)

Rockwell is known as The Saturday Evening Post’s most famous illustrator. He submitted his first successful cover painting, “Mother’s Day Off”, to the Post in 1916. Over the next Forty-seven years his work appeared on the cover a total of 323 times. Each cover that he created tells a story. The images are rich with detail and […]

NEW IN TOWN (GRADES K-5)

Discuss segregation and civil rights as you explore Rockwell’s “New Kids in The Neighborhood”.

Painted in 1967, this illustration depicts suburban integration in Chicago’s Park Forrest community. As a vision of positive change and growing tolerance, the children appear as if they will soon play together.

STORY SPARKS: (GRADES K-5)

In this painting Rockwell tells the story of a little girl’s day by portraying small moments in her morning, afternoon, and night. It was created for the Saturday Evening Post and is a companion to Rockwell’s prior Post cover, Day in the Life of a Little Boy. Rockwell was known for his ability to capture emotion and tell a complete story within […]

GOSSIP (GRADES K-8)

Build writing skills and language skills as you speculate on what the characters in Rockwell’s The Gossips are talking about.

Rockwell had the idea for The Gossips for 20 years but couldn’t come up with the ending. Then he had the idea to picture himself as the subject of the gossips’ circle; suddenly he knew what to draw. He used his neighbors in Arlington, Vermont as the other figures in the painting. […]

GOING AND COMING (ELL)

Tell short stories inspired by Rockwell’s work.

This painting was done for “The Saturday Evening Post” and depicts a family before and after their summer vacation. Rockwell’s Post covers were intended to present a story that was easily “read” and understood by viewers. In this painting he uses two images within one picture to provide more detail and create a continuum of time. We see the “before” and the “after” of the […]

STORY SPARKS (GRADES K-5)

Use Norman Rockwell’s Post covers to spark creative writing.

Rockwell is known as The Saturday Evening Post’s most famous illustrator. He submitted his first successful cover painting, “Mother’s Day Off”, to the Post in 1916. Over the next Forty-seven years his work appeared on the cover a total of 323 times. Each cover that he created tells a story. Through his work, he presents images of everyday life in America, childhood, civil […]

THE PROBLEM (GRADES: K-5)

Discuss inequality as you explore Rockwell’s “The Problem We all Live With.”

“The Problem We all Live With” was created for “Look” Magazine to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education which ended racial segregation stating that separate was not equal. The painting shows a young girl being escorted into her newly integrated school by US marshals as onlookers protest all around her. It was inspired by […]

BE A MODEL (GRADES K-8)

Build descriptive language skills as you pretend to be Norman Rockwell directing a model.

In paintings like this we can see that Norman Rockwell was really good at capturing the thoughts and feelings of children. To help him do this he had real children pose for his illustrations. Sometimes they had to stand for long periods of time in very uncomfortable poses. Later the job got a little bit easier. […]

AROUND THE TABLE (GRADES K-5)

Practice language associated with mealtime.

In January 1941 President Roosevelt, shared with congress his vision for a postwar world founded on four fundamental human freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Inspired by his words, Rockwell created “Four Freedoms.” Originally published in the Post the paintings were a huge success and were later used to sell war bonds and stamps. The Four […]

SMALL MOMENTS (GRADES K-5)

In this painting Rockwell tells the story of a little girl’s day by portraying small moments in her morning, afternoon, and night. It was created for the Post and is a companion to Rockwell’s prior Post cover, Day in the Life of a Little Boy [insert link]. Rockwell was known for his ability to tell a complete story within each of his images.

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